


apology

by ro_blaze



Series: fairy tail; rewritten [6]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Awkward Gajeel Redfox, Feels, Fluff, Gajeel-centric, Gen, Other, a travesty really, but who isnt, gajeel is judgy, hes trying his best ok, how DARE, i cant believe gajeel and the shadow gear boys brotp tag isnt a thing, lucy collects mugs, mostly gajeels, there are lots of feels going on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:22:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23286208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ro_blaze/pseuds/ro_blaze
Summary: gajeel has some apologizing to do. he's trying his best.[file six of fairy tail; rewritten. post fantasia arc, pre oracion seis arc]
Relationships: Gajeel Redfox & Jet & Droy, Levy McGarden & Gajeel Redfox, Levy McGarden/Gajeel Redfox, Lucy Heartfilia & Gajeel Redfox
Series: fairy tail; rewritten [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1221527
Comments: 14
Kudos: 44





	1. i.

**Author's Note:**

> I DID SAY I WAS GOING TO FINISH APOLOGY FAST DIDNT I HUH???????
> 
> ok the whole three parts of this piece of shit were written pretty much in the span of 24 hours, give or take, im tired, its midnight, gajeel is an awkward mess but cut him some slack pls
> 
> im not sure which the next file is going to be so im probably going to run through my notes and see what i have before we can throw ourselves into the fairly plot-heavy oracion seis arc 
> 
> again, betaed by the amazing [ceru](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeruleanShockwave/pseuds/CeruleanShockwave/)! how do they even put up with me idk

it’s early in the evening. the setting sun showers magnolia with soft light and paints the living room in warm shades of orange and red. in the far east, past the protectively looming silhouette of the guild hall, the quiet lake glimmers as if filled with diamonds. where the sky and water touch, the horizon glows purple-blue.

unfortunately, lucy is too focused on the crumpled piece of paper in front of her to care about any of it.

she nibbles on the tip of her pen and mutters something quietly under her breath, then shakes her head violently, rolls the paper up into a ball and throws it into the window. it hits the glass panel innocently and falls in on the carpeted floor.

from his position on the banister just outside of the aforementioned window, gajeel stares at the ball of paper before shrugging. then, he raises his hand and knocks lightly against the window, his knuckles hitting the smooth glass three times. 

_ tap, tap, tap. _

lucy mutters something again and this time he manages to catch natsu’s name thrown into it. a smirk makes its way to his face. natsu was the one who’d advised him to come over in the first place, promising him lucy wouldn’t mind it at all.

gajeel knocks again, gripping the banister just a little bit tighter with his free hand.

_ tap, tap, tap. _

this time, it gets more of a reaction out of her. lucy stands up from her chair, knocking it a foot or so back, and turns her head towards the window to probably scold what she assumes to be natsu. when she sees him, her eyes grow comically wide, shock written all over her face, and promptly trips into her chair.

gajeel gives her an awkward wave and his best attempt in a friendly smile.

“can i come in?” he calls through the window.

lucy stares at him for about a minute, blinking owlishly and mouth gaping. she gathers herself eventually and smooths down her skirt, then walks over and opens the window. her hands are shaking, just a bit, but she steps back to the side and allows him to land inside. she is still staring at him when he dusts himself off, the end of his braid brushing his fingers lightly.

“hello,” lucy says, shock still evident in her voice.

“hi.” never in his life has gajeel wished to have social skills as much as he does now. “i, uhhh… is it okay for me to be here?”

lucy blinks, then nods her head slowly.

“sure…? i mean, we’re guildmates.” she eyes him cautiously, then offers him a small smile. with a soft whoosh of her loose ponytail, she turns around and heads to the kitchen. “would you like some tea? i’d usually offer coffee, but it seems a bit too dark for that.”

“tea is fine.” gajeel stares after her for a moment, feeling more and more awkward with every passing second, before eventually following her.

lucy’s kitchen isn’t much different from what he expected coming in — sparsely furnished like the rest of her apartment but clean and mostly orderly. he picks one of the many colorful mugs gathered on the kitchen counter — a bright and almost obnoxious shade of orange, with a cartoonish dragon drawn on it. it brings a smile to his face.

“natsu’s?” gajeel asks, gesturing to the garish mug.

“yup.” a small, almost shy smile curls up her mouth. “the one with the red bird is erza’s and the snowman is gray’s.”

“they come around often, then?” he puts the mug back down, fingers tracing the rim.

“every other day,” lucy explains as she fills up her tea kettle. it’s a pretty knocked up kettle, too, with more bumps and dents than he’s ever seen a kettle have. “not half as much as natsu does, though — most of the time, they spend the night over. they’ve already claimed the couch!”

gajeel snorts in amusement, then tries to cover the sound. lucy throws him a look over her shoulder that’s half a smile and half a scolding.

“they told you to use the window, didn’t they?”

“yeah.” he tilts his head, then immediately regrets it when the action causes the still fresh stitches on his temple to pull in an uncomfortable and mildly painful fashion. “is it a problem? they said you wouldn’t mind it.”

“of course they did,” she mutters under her breath, pulling a plain blue mug out of her cupboard. “any preference for the mug?”

none, gajeel almost says, but then gives a second glance to the small collection of colorful mugs gathered on her counter. 

“can i look them over?” he asks instead.

“be my guest,” lucy calls over, then moves to the side. 

the cupboard is on a height where he can comfortably look into it, clean porcelain mugs sorted inside of it. after half a minute of concentrated examination, gajeel carefully pulls out a plain gray mug with a small black cat drawn near the rim. 

“didn’t take you for a cat person,” lucy teases as she accepts the mug he’s picked. 

“cats are nice,” gajeel says with a shrug.

they wait in rather awkward silence for the water to boil. lucy picks two teabags from the box sitting innocently on the counter and slips them into the waiting mugs, then pours the boiling water over them.

“so,” she says, eyes trained on the steeping tea between them, “what are you here for?”

gajeel looks up and towards her, startled and mildly impressed by the sharpness of her tone.

“straight to the matter at hand?” he asks, crossing his arms over the counter.

“no point in beating around the bush. now, speak up.”

gajeel takes a deep breath and runs one hand over his face.

“i wanted to apologize,” he says and, as the words slip from his lips, something akin to a soul-crushing weight disappears from his chest.

“apologize,” lucy repeats, her eyes narrowing. she regards him quietly. “what for?”

“ _what for_?” he has to bite back a sharp burst of laughter. “for destroying your home? for beating you black and blue? threatening to kill you? trying to kill you?”

there is something in the way her eyes soften at his almost manic voice that makes his chest clench. he doesn’t deserve her pity, let alone her forgiveness.

“my point is,” gajeel continues, trying as he might to reign in the lunacy from his voice, “i wanted to apologize to you for all the pain i’ve caused you and all the cruel things i’ve done to you and the people you love.”

lucy stares at him, an almost gentleness shining from her. then, she smiles.

“how much sugar do you want in your tea?” she asks.

“what?”

“how much sugar do you want in your tea?” lucy repeats innocently, holding out a small sugar jar to him. “i don’t have much, but i think it’s enough for both of us right now.”

gajeel gapes for a moment, then forces himself to close his mouth.

“you… you aren’t going to...”

“to what? say you don’t deserve any of my forgiveness and kick you out of my home at seven o’clock? don’t be silly.” lucy pours five spoons of sugar in her mug. _five_. what a madwoman. “now hush and drink your tea.”

feeling a little more than flustered, gajeel puts two spoons of sugar in his mug and brings it to his lips. it’s warm, spreading heat all through his body, and he finds himself smiling just a bit at her hospitality. 

“i’m sorry i can’t offer you much,” lucy says when he’s halfway done with his tea. 

“let me guess. natsu raided your fridge again?”

lucy blinks at him, then starts laughing, genuine mirth ringing in her voice. gajeel feels something cold in his chest melt. it’s not the kind of sound he’s used to hearing, but he’s starting to think that he wouldn’t mind hanging around this weird girl more. 

“no, no… just going through a rough spot right now.” lucy tugs on a lock of her hair and twists it around her fingers. “money’s a bit sparse and with all this chaos around the guild, i forgot to go to the grocery store yesterday.”

gajeel eyes her over the rim of his mug, then slowly lowers it and stands up. lucy gives him a weird look. 

“where are you going?”

“where are _we_ going,” gajeel corrects her. “grab your coat. we’re going grocery shopping.”

“what?” lucy jumps up and almost spills her grossly oversweetened tea in the process. “but— i don’t— i don’t have— ”

“ _we_ ’re going for groceries,” gajeel repeats, “and _i_ ’m going to buy you some goddamn food. now get your coat, woman, or i will carry you outside. with my own hands. and yes, before you ask, this is a threat.”

lucy blinks owlishly at him, then nods slowly as if she thinks him mad. (considering the influence fairy tail’s gained over him since he joined, he might as well agree with her.) she walks over to the clothing hanger and wraps herself in a very warm-looking hoodie. gajeel smiles, just a bit, and holds the door open for her in his best attempt to be a polite, functional member of society.

“hey, gajeel?” lucy calls when he’s halfway down the stairs.

“hmm?”

“you’re a good friend,” she tells him, then gently knocks her elbow into his as she walks ahead.

gajeel stares after her for a moment, nails scratching lightly over the plaster of bandages covering his left arm, then throws his head back in laughter and follows along.

* * *

not even a week later, there’s a new tea kettle sitting innocently on her kitchen counter, with a pretty little star pattern hand-carved around the rim. lucy spends ten minutes laughing at the gift and the rather unsubtle message it's relaying, then sets off  to make herself a cup of tea.


	2. ii.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> gajeel takes another step towards atoning for his sins and ends up scaring a bunch of kids in te process. it's for a good cause.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ALSMOST FORGOT TO POST THIS FUCKING THING
> 
> also 
> 
> why isnt gajeel, jet and droy brotp tag a thing. what is this travesty. actually how fucking dare

it’s just a couple days after the so-called “great battle” of fairy tail, and although half the streets are in disarray, preparations for the fantasia festival are still underway. colorful garlands hang from wooden posts all around town, and flower wreaths decorate every doorway and window. merchants are setting up their stands around the main square, the smell of honeyed goods and candy wafting in the air. 

gajeel watches the people pass by from his spot in the crown of one of the large oak trees planted in the middle of the town square, only half paying attention to what is happening under him in his (rather pathetic, might he add) attempt to open the package of the gummy bears he took on his way. with a defeated sigh, he transforms his index finger into a small blade and uses it to cut through the package, then pulls out one of the small treats. 

the green gummy bear smells like apple juice. he pops his well-earned prize in his mouth and hums in satisfaction as the taste of green apples settles in the back of his mouth.

some ten or so feet under him, people are hustling and bustling around the main square, setting up their stands or making their way across town. if he looks hard enough, he can recognize some of his guildmates among the thin crowds—there is juvia, hanging on cana’s arm and laughing in a way he’s never seen her laugh before, as they slip away towards one of the smaller streets; then there is the barmaid mirajane, tugging her boulder of a brother elfman to what he assumes is a fruit stand. gajeel swallows another gummy bear, a red one this time—cherry?—and settles more comfortably against the rather large tree branch he’s occupied, stretching his legs along the branch’s length. 

_not_ counting the numerous shenanigans fairy tail manages to get themselves tangled up in, magnolia is a very quaint and peaceful town, and gajeel finds himself growing oddly attached to it. the mountain air tastes like sweet heaven compared to the dust and ash from the factories he’d grown used to back in oak city; the lush parks that sprout every other street fill everything with greenery. it’s beautiful, even to his untrained eye. he can find himself loving this town, one day.

it’s by the time he’s about halfway done with his gummy bears that something catches his eye. it’s not quite a commotion — if it was, it would have attracted more people, wouldn’t it? — but it’s enough to get him on edge. stowing his treats away into his coat, gajeel jumps down from the tree and silently makes his way across the square, to where a small group of people has gathered in the opening of one of the dead-end alleys. 

the first thing he notices, really, is that what he’d initially assumed to be a group happens to be a small bunch of mostly teenage kids. he rolls his eyes and prepares to leave the roof he’s settled on, but then his eyes catch what exactly seems to have attracted the scruffy-looking kid gang. 

or, more like, _who_.

“well, fuck,” he mutters to himself.

“are you two such losers that you can’t deal with a bunch of kids?” what seems to be the leader of the kid gang calls, throwing a stone at the two cornered mages. 

jet manages to catch the stone with no trouble, but instead of throwing it back, he drops it onto the ground. his eyebrows knit in anger and his mouth opens to probably answer, but a hand lands on his shoulder.

“there’s no point,” droy tells his friend, just loud enough for the kid gang — and gajeel, from his position — to hear. “they’re just children, don’t let them get to you— ”

someone throws a second stone and this time it finds its mark, hitting against the side of jet’s head with a resounding “crack”, promptly knocking off his oversized hat. jet rubs the spot and bites back what is surely a curse, but shows no other sign of pain. gajeel grits his teeth — had the stone hit any lower or the hat not protected him, it could have been a lot worse.

“do you want another one?” one of the kids cries out while the rest of the horrible little gang laughs. “do rocks taste good, bird legs?”

“i don’t know,” gajeel says innocently from his perch on the roof. “do you wanna try iron, though?”

he jumps from the roof and easily lands on his feet, raising dust when his boots touch the ground. sends a cold glare towards the gang and their apparent leader, making sure to arrange himself so he stands in front of his guildmates. then, he cracks his knuckles. 

(he might be showing off, _just a little_ , but that’s never hurt anyone, has it?)

“what?” gajeel calls, willing his mouth to curl into a smirk. he's not really in the state to pick fights, with his wounds still so fresh, but they don't know that, do they? “cat got your tongue, kid? aren’t you going to throw a rock at me, too? you seem to like picking on fairy tail mages.”

“you can’t fight us!” one of the brats cries, stomping its foot on the ground. “mages can’t pick fights with civilians! we’re…. we’re protected…. by the law... ”

gajeel spits. right in the face of that kid. it’d be a lie to say he doesn’t enjoy the fear written over their stupid little faces or the faint smell of urine he can just barely catch. 

“that’s what i think of your law,” he says, allowing his face to morph into the murderous mask he uses when fighting. then he laughs, the kind of cold, cruel laugh that sends dark mages running up the hill. “now scram.”

gajeel cracks his knuckles again and watches with glee as their ugly little faces process what he’s said. they don’t need to be told twice, it seems, because soon enough there’s only dust left behind where they once stood.

“and remember,” gajeel calls after the running gang, “if you ever as much as touch a fairy tail member, kurogane gajeel is going to find you and make you wish you never were born.”

a heartbeat, and then another. their steps disappear far into the distance, the festive town too busy with the arrangements to care for a minuscule accident in a half-forgotten alley.

“you didn’t have to make them piss their pants,” jet calls from behind him.

“it was fun,” gajeel says with a shrug, then turns around and picks the hat from where it’d fallen on the dusty ground. “i think this is yours.”

jet accepts the hat and dusts it off, then folds it against his hip.

“why did you help us?” droy asks, an edge to his voice. 

gajeel shrugs again, staring somewhere in the stone wall behind them. he wants to groan and kick something, hating his own inability to carry out a single regular conversation without either freaking someone out or making a fool of himself. (usually both.)

“felt like you needed someone to help you out, that’s all,” he mutters, looking down at his feet. 

jet snorts. when gajeel looks up and fixes him with a cold glare, the speed mage actually _laughs_.

“you’re really bad at this, aren’t you?” he says, the corner of his mouth curling up in a playful smile.

gajeel turns his head to the side, trying as he might to ignore the heat rising up his neck and turning his ears red. he stuffs his hands into his pockets and heads out of the smelly alley.

“gajeel?” droy calls when he is barely a dozen steps away from where they’re still standing.

“hmm?”

“come join us for lunch. there’s a nice place just a few streets down from here.”

gajeel stops and spares them a look. something in his stomach twists and squeezes, almost painfully tight. 

“sure,” he agrees, trying to ignore the urge to smile.

* * *

(“i’m sorry,” he tells them later as they sit on a small table in a small restaurant somewhere in the tiny streets of magnolia’s hidden neighborhoods, all sorts of food strewn in front of them. “for all the shit i did.”

jet snorts, which would have been okay if he wasn’t in the process of drinking a glass of soda. the aforementioned soda proceeds to spurt right out of his nose, making him choke and gasp in pain.

“loser,” droy says, not even looking up from his plate and ignoring his best friend’s struggles. then he lifts his hand and points at gajeel with his fork. “you pay.”

“i pay,” gajeel agrees, not missing a beat, and takes a sip from his water.

what a crazy bunch. he’s starting to like them. just a little.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> go follow me on tumblr and twitter, its almost 1 am, i'm exhausted, online school is kicking my ass, my portfolio sucks, yadayada


	3. iii.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> gajeel makes a visit to the fairy tail library.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before i present to you to the end of this three-part story, i'd like to share something quick with you.
> 
> i could have decided to not tag this story as gajeel/levy, but i did anyway.
> 
> "rewritten" has been my dream project for... quite the long time, now. i've spent the last year or so outlining and planning and building up my lore. this is hard, because with all due respect to the original work, when your source has so many holes and so many inaccuracies to fill up, it's so exhausting and i'm just a struggling high school student in her senior year.
> 
> and while working on "rewritten", i also decided which ships i'm going to include, and of course i decided gajeel/levy has to be one of them because. (it's my absolutely favorite ship and it'd be sacrilege towards myself to not.) chapter three of "apology" is the very step of the epic of those two goobers falling in love and deciding to spend the rest of their lives together, but it's not, and i want to emphasize that, a romantic piece. you don't have to read this interaction between gajeel and levy as a romantic one because it's not ultimately intended to be one. of course, taking the later development of their relationship in account, you can freely consider it romantic (and i'd be greatly honored by that) but the nature of this chapter is supposed to be more soft and wholesome than anything else.
> 
> now, with this monstrous author's note out of the way, please enjoy!

the fairy tail library smells like dust and old paper, and gajeel sneezes approximately five times as he slowly makes his way through the bookshelves. 

there are books falling apart, books crammed together so tight you can barely pull them out of where they stand, books set away in a shelf all by themselves, and there’s even one book that tries to bite him. when he stops by an aisle with a dusty sign that reads “mythological creatures”, he runs his fingers over the dusty spine of one book before trying to pull it out. unfortunately, the old shelf decides it’s just the perfect time to cave in and before he knows what’s going on, gajeel is buried under a small pile of books older than him (and perhaps half of magnolia.)

very, _very_ old paper.

“what’s going on?” a soft voice calls from the end of the aisle. 

gajeel grunts and pushes off one of the books from where it’s fallen on top of his head just in time to catch the sight of something blue. then he sneezes again, sending more dust flying in the air which, in turn, causes him to sneeze one more time.

the voice from before laughs, a soft sound that reminds him of the ringing of bells, and then something blue and orange obscures whatever part of his vision isn’t already obscured by the books.

“are you okay?” levy asks, her hands reaching out to (he assumes) dig him out of the pile.

“peachy,” gajeel grumbles, but gives her what he hopes comes off as a friendly smile.

with some joint effort—once his arms have been freed, at least—they manage to get him out of the messy book pile. he sneezes only two or three more times and by the time they’re done, his ears are red with embarrassment. fortunately, levy isn’t the kind of person who would make fun of him for it and he’s immensely thankful for it.

“are you sure you’re okay?” she asks, holding one of those dusty books in her lap. “i can take you to the infirmary if yo— ”

“i’m fine,” gajeel says, doing his best not to smile. there’s something oddly endearing in the way her glasses rest on the tip of her nose. “here, let me take care of the mess i made.”

levy gives him a look and lifts the glasses to rest on top of her head, then kneels next to him on the dusty floor and starts neatly sorting through the books without sparing him a second glance. accepting the unspoken challenge with a small laugh, gajeel follows suit.

between the two of them, they have the book pile all sorted up in some ten-odd minutes. levy’s part is obviously bigger and ordered more neatly than his, but that’s a given, considering she’s much more experienced than him when dealing with books. still, gajeel can’t help but give her a grin when he leans against a bookshelf. one less dusty and almost empty, might he note. he doesn’t want to repeat the accident, thank you very much.

“are you waiting for praise?” levy asks with an almost playful hint in her voice as she stows the last book in its rightful place.

“won’t call it praise, exactly,” he bites back, “but more of an evaluation.”

levy turns away from the bookshelf and sizes him up with a soft hum, her eyebrows knitted in concentration.

“not half bad,” she says at last. then, she smiles. “for a newbie.”

gajeel laughs, something in him preening when it causes her smile to widen. he hasn’t seen her smile that often. it looks quite… pretty on her. his ears grow warm at that thought, and he’s suddenly thankful for the rather dim light in the library. he’s embarrassed himself plenty enough already.

“so,“ levy’s soft voice breaks him out of that dangerous train of thoughts, “what brings you here?”

“what if i’m just looking for a quiet place to nap?”

she lets out a soft hum, then starts walking away, deeper into the aisles of books. gajeel follows her, not minding it all when she selects one seemingly random book from a nearby shelf and hands it to him. the same process repeats a couple more times, until he’s just following her around and carrying a growing stack of books in his arms. he’s seen her in the zone before—watching the way her eyebrows knit together as she observes the books, the way her shoulders tense when she struggles to reach something, the way her eyes light up when she sees the thing she was looking for… it’s highly entertaining, for some reason he can’t put his finger on.

at last, after some more rummaging around the dusty library and gajeel’s sneeze count reaching the even number of 20, they reach what he assumes is their final destination. levy’s work desk reminds him greatly of the emergency book pile she’d assimilated during the crisis—at first glance, it looks utterly and horribly messy, but once you look at it for more than a second, you can see the neat (if peculiar) order every little piece follows.

if possible, his respect for the blue-haired girl on his left grows even more.

“you’re really amazing, y’know?” he tells her, then carefully lowers the stack in his arms onto the table.

levy doesn’t take notice of his words or his presence, it seems, too focused on re-sorting through her workplace. gajeel pulls up a nearby chair and sits down to watch her work, his eyes following every calculated motion of her hands, every bounce of her wild curls.

it’s approximately half an hour later when levy remembers he’s still hanging around her. the way her eyes grow wide and heat spreads over her face is highly entertaining, her mouth opening and closing a couple of times. had he been any braver, he’d have reached to gently lift her jaw.

“i’m sorry i didn’t notice you,” she mutters at last, stubbornly looking away from him and staring directly in the empty piece of paper in front of her.

gajeel feels his amused smirk widen.

“it’s not every day someone doesn’t notice me,” he teases, leaning on his elbows over the table.

if possible, she grows even more flustered. even with his face more than a foot away from hers, he can feel the heat it radiates. had he been a kinder person, he would have spared the poor girl.

unfortunately for her, gajeel redfox isn’t known for his image of a complete and utter jackass for nothing.

“although someone as small as you is probably used to that,” he continues, mirth laced in his voice.

levy groans and covers her face. gajeel laughs, finding her reaction somehow hilarious and utterly adorable at the same time.

“you know,” she whispers from behind her hand, “if you continue with these... short jokes, you’re going to make forgiving you awfully hard.”

her words immediately sober him. his smile falls off, his mouth opening, but this time no sound comes out. he grits his teeth and looks down. 

“i fucked up?” he suggests, unable to really face her. it seems only natural that his attempt to make amends around the guild hasn’t gone unnoticed by someone like her. “i fucked up real bad and you don’t want to see me ever again?”

“i wouldn’t put it like that,” she corrects him with an almost laugh in her voice, “but i’m willing to give you a second chance if that’s what you want.”

gajeel takes a deep sigh, urging himself to put his mind in proper order. 

“i’m sorry,” he begins, and his voice breaks, “for hurti— ”

“i forgive you.”

“—ing you... ” then, his mind catches up. “excuse me but _what the fuck_?”

“i forgive you,” levy repeats, the corner of her mouth rising up into a smile. it’s a very pretty smile. “you don’t need to say anything else.”

“but— but you deserve more than just that,” gajeel insists. “the fucked up shit i did can’t be excused with a single sorry.”

“that’s true,” levy agrees, “but _you_ don’t get to decide what i deserve or not deserve, gajeel.”

she meets his eyes and gives him a smile—and it’s a different kind of smile, one that is almost shy. there’s a lot of things he wants to say—a lot of things he knows _she_ wants to say, judging for the glimmer of _something_ he can see in her eyes—but neither of them is willing to take that step. with a sigh, gajeel leans back and admits defeat.

“ _thank you_ ,” he whispers, his voice barely loud enough to hear.

“no need,” levy tells him. “i quite enjoy having some company around when i work. it’s… comforting.”

they lapse into silence, but it’s a nice kind of silence. gajeel closes his eyes and relaxes, listening to the scratch of her pen against paper and the occasional turn of a page. sometimes, levy would hum as she writes, a soft melody he thinks he’s heard somewhere. a part of him wants to hum along, but he doesn’t. not yet, at least.

after some time of watching her work in that perfect, serene atmosphere, gajeel reaches over and gently nudges her hand. levy looks at him over the rim of her glasses, confusion drawn over her face when she sees the palm he’s holding up to her.

“let’s start over again,” he says quietly. “my name is gajeel redfox, i’m an idiot and i would really like it if you want to be my friend.”

levy stares at him as if he’s five different kinds of mad—and knowing him, he might well be—before the warmest, sweetest smile lights up her face. she reaches out and squeezes his hand gently, her ink-covered fingers pressing against his gloved palm.

“my name is levy mcgarden, i love chocolate and i would really like to be your friend, if you will have me.”

“it’d be my pleasure.”

* * *

the library, gajeel thinks a couple of days later as he listens to the scratch of his new friend’s pen and the soft hum of her voice, doesn’t seem as old and dusty anymore. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come visit me at my tumblr, [pan-princess-levy](http://pan-princess-levy.tumblr.com/)! now you can also follow me on twitter [monnydoesart](https://twitter.com/MonnyRancheva) and look at my art!
> 
> and thank you for reading through all three chapters of this!

**Author's Note:**

> come visit me at my tumblr, [pan-princess-levy](http://pan-princess-levy.tumblr.com/)! now you can also follow me on twitter [monnydoesart](https://twitter.com/MonnyRancheva) and look at my art!


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